re-sizing fave t-shirts post baby

I have a 3 yr old, and a pile of clothes that still don't fit, but that i don't want to give up on. Especially favorite t-shirts that are just a little too tight, and a little too short.
Earlier this week I decided to do something to make my Bert & Ernie shirt more comfortable to wear.

I started by cutting it apart at the seams; sides, shoulders and sleeves.


I then dug through my bag of t-shirt scraps from other projects (I make lots of kids shirts up-cycled from used adult shirts) for something big enough to add a few inches to the sides. You could also use new knit fabric, just turn under and finish the bottom seam before sewing it to the shirt.

Figure out how much bigger you want your shirt to be, measure and cut rectangles. Pin to the side seams and sew.


I've been really into using this stitch on my home machine that simulates serging, but straight stitch or zigzag would work too.

Altering the shoulder seam is where it's especially handy to be using scraps from another shirt.

I cut a 2 in wide strip from the other shirt to match just in front of the shoulder seam, including the collar.


Here I cut away the extra folds of fabric to make my new seam less bulky.

Sew that strip in

And you end up with this

Now it just so happened in this case that the sleeves on the blue shirt were just the right size to match the enlarged armholes. So I just cut them out and pinned them into my B&E shirt. If you aren't so lucky, or are using new fabric, or want something funkier: there are many options.

Measure your armhole, and decide what you want your new sleeve to look like. You can trace the curve of it to make a traditional t-shirt sleeve.
You could cut a strip the length of the hole (as wide as you want) or longer to make it ruffley. Anywhere your sleeve creativity takes you.











And here is the finished shirt.



And though it made it easier to simply replace one sleeve w/ another, I'm thinking I may end up further altering them...